Dede Piankova and Oscar Grisales want to introduce team handball to Houston athletes. This is not handball played in an enclosed court, hitting a small blue ball with racquets off a wall. Team handball looks more like soccer but with a smaller ball, and you can use your hands. Kicking is not allowed. A team consists of seven players.
Wikipedia describes team handball as very fast paced. After receiving the ball, players can only hold the ball for three seconds before passing, dribbling--as in basketball, or shooting. After receiving the ball, players can take up to three steps without dribbling. If players dribble, they may take an additional three steps. If a player stops dribbling, he or she has only three seconds to pass or shoot.
It can be an aggressive sport in the adult version. The game includes body contact as the defenders try to stop the attackers from approaching the goal. Contact is only allowed when the defensive player is completely in front of the offensive player. Players are allowed unlimited fouls, which are considered good defense and disruptive to the attacking team's rhythm.
It’s a high scoring game with teams scoring at 20 points or more.
Piankova, 57, who lives in Tomball, came to Houston from Bulgaria 23 years ago. She played team handball at the international level in Bulgaria. “Coming to the United States was a big shock; my favorite sport is a big secret.” She also recalls seeing that most of the children were overweight. She has started an Americanized version of team handball, “American Speed Handball.” Her new version helps both the kids get and stay in shape, plus it gets parents involvement in the game.
American Speed Handball, played on basketball courts, involves rotating two squads of five players on each team. The squads rotate every five minutes. A squad of fathers only play other fathers; mothers only play other mothers; boys play only boys and girls play only girls. Piankova’s rules allow men, women, parents, and children to play on the same team. A team can have up to 20 players. The length of a game, depending on the age of the children playing, can last from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. Children can begin playing at the age of five.
Oscar Grisales, 42, also has an international background. He learned team handball growing up in Columbia. In 1997 he competed in the Pan Am Games in Cuba for Columbia.
“It’s a team sport, very fast paced,” says Grisales. “It’s a good sport for people with all different skills.
“It (team handball) is mainly played by European people who know the sport,” continues Grisales. “I am working with the city of Houston trying to get kids involved. I want this to be American handball. I don’t want this to be known as a South American or European sport; I want this to be known as American team handball, create a new generation of players here in Houston.”
Grisales is running a program with the City of Houston at Marion Park 11101 South Gessner. “The manager of the wellness center at the Park wanted to run an afterschool enrichment program and were considering team handball as part of it,” explained Grisales. “Basically, we introduce the sport to the kids as mini-handball, an adaptation of the sport to early age kids.
Anyone wishing to check out American Speed Handball can contact Piankova at 713-517-4064 (www.houstonhandball.org) or Grisales at 832-878-8714, (www.firehawksteamhandball.org)
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